FOR THE POLITBURO OF THE CC RCP(b)

Comrade Molotov,

Having learned from Kamenev that the SNK unanimously adopted a completely unseemly proposal from Lunacharsky regarding the preservation of the Grand Opera and Ballet, I propose that the Politburo resolve:

1. Entrust the Presidium of the All-Union Central Executive Committee with rescinding the SNK resolution.

2. Retain from the opera and ballet only several dozen artists for Moscow and Petrograd so that their performances (both operatic and dance) might be self-supporting*, that is, by eliminating all major expenditures on sets and the like.

3. From the millions thus economized, allocate no less than half to the elimination of illiteracy and to reading rooms.

4. Call in Lunacharsky for five minutes to hear the final word of the accused and issue a reprimand both to him and to all the People's Commissars, that the introduction and voting of resolutions such as the one now being rescinded by the CC shall henceforth result in more stringent measures from the CC 195.

Lenin

12/I - 22

First published in print,
from a typewritten copy